The Two Worlds of Magic REPOST
by Kira Dattei
Summary: Repost AU DracoHarry SLASH The silver collection of magic reached out and touched the only one that could control him. Maybe peace is truly possible... see AN inside for explanation.


**Story Title:** The Two Worlds of Magic  
**Romantic Pairings:** Harry/Draco, slight Ron/Hermione  
**Current Sorcery Pairings:** Alia/Aidrian  
**Rating:** Currently PG-13. Might change  
**Chapter Word Count:** 8,556  
**Warning:** This story does contain Slash or male/male relationships. If you don't like that, then don't read, and don't complain to me about it. I'll just laugh at you.  
**Disclaimer:** The characters except for Alia, Aidrian, Seph and Elaine Jerona belong to J.K. Rowling. I am merely borrowing and corrupting them. (maybe then she won't want them back when I'm done with them)  
**Summary:** Wizardry isn't the only type of magic around. That's common knowledge. What isn't common knowledge is Sorcery. Sorcerers were supposedly wiped out hundreds of years ago, but now they're back and Voldemort won't let them join the side of Light, especially considering the rumors that say that Harry Potter has become a sorcerer, which shouldn't be possible.

**AN: **This is a repost of the first chapter. There haven't been any real changes done to the content, just corrections made. I'm going through each chapter to reacquaint myself with the story. I completely understand if I'm on some people's Hit List considering how long it's been since I even looked at this story. Well, I'm back and I will keep up with it if it's the last thing I do. As I go through each chapter I will make adjustments to it and correct anything I find wrong. If I miss anything feel free to inform. So there will be a repost of each chapter. Once I repost all the chapters currently up on the other version, I'll delete it.  
**Majestrix**: I will send you an email if you read this before I get around to writing said email. I'm sorry for leaving you hanging like I have.

**

* * *

Chapter 1: Symbolic Power**

Albus Dumbledore sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair behind his desk and brought a hand up to massage his brow. He felt so old these days. Voldemort's actions had been so quiet ever since the end of the last school year that Dumbledore couldn't help but be concerned that something terrible was about to happen. The Ministry of Magic was of even less help nowadays than it was before, as impossible as the thought seemed. Any movement that the Death Eaters made to make sure people knew they were still there in force was blown completely out of proportion by Cornelius Fudge. There was also the situation rising up in America…

There was a knock on the door and Dumbledore straightened up slightly to appear reasonably presentable in case it was an unexpected visit from a Ministry member. "Come in," he responded. The door opened to reveal Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall. They looked upset to put their appearance politely.

"Headmaster, we have received a distress call from the Jerona's. They say that Rokay is under attack by Death Eaters," Snape explained quickly. Dumbledore's attention snapped into action at the mention of the Jerona's and was now working out what significance Death Eaters attacking Rokay would have. Unfortunately there was only one thing they could gain from that action: two teenagers that are too valuable to lose to Voldemort.

"What about Alia and Aidrian? Are they safe?" he questioned, concern lacing his words. If they were lost now, then too many lives would be put in jeopardy, including that of Harry Potter.

"They didn't say anything about them in their message so I would assume there is no real bad news," McGonagall answered, Snape looking between the two in confusion. He couldn't recall the names, let alone match them to a face.

"But, knowing those two, they probably put themselves in the middle of the disaster."

"Unfortunately, you're probably right, Albus. Those two wouldn't let harm come to anyone they know if they could do something to prevent it. So, should we assume they are lost to us?"

"You obviously don't give them enough credit," Dumbledore said, allowing a kind smile to grace his features. "They may be teenagers, but they are among the best at what they do. Just because they happen to throw themselves into danger doesn't mean they can't handle it. They are probably the most resourceful trained fighters you will ever meet. I noticed that they also have a tendency to learn new abilities in the midst of battle."

"Who are these two?" Snape finally got a chance to ask.

"You'll meet them soon enough."

There was a quick knock on the door before it opened to reveal a flustered looking Reamus Lupin. "Dumbledore, we've received another message from Rokay. It was from Seph Jerona sent only to the Order. He says that Alia and Aidrian are planning to go to the Order's base in Phoenix. But Seph couldn't tell us for sure if they were safe or not. They were separated from each other when they went to help the other students that were fighting."

"Well, we were right in assuming they would join the fight without hesitation," McGonagall said with a subdued tone to her voice. She knew they were skilled, but they weren't properly prepared to battle Death Eaters and their underhanded tactics.

"Severus, I want you to get a Portkey ready to take us to the Black Manor, and then straight to Rokay," Dumbledore ordered calmly, finally making a decision on the course of action he would take.

"Why go to Black Manor?" Snape asked.

"We will need reinforcements to be of some assistance in defending Rokay," Dumbledore answered as he stood.

"Albus, you know their rules," McGonagall warned. "We aren't allowed to do anything by their laws."

"They have broken their own rule to help us before and I won't sit here when I have a chance to return the favor."

"But it's different for us breaking the rule, which is why we never have. By doing this we could begin a chain of events that could lead to total animosity between us."

"Snape, the Portkey, please," Dumbledore reminded the Potions professor. Snape looked at the Headmaster for a few more seconds before nodding and leaving the room.

"Reamus, please send a response to Rokay telling them we are on our way to assist them. Then tell everybody available in the Order to meet us at Black Manor."

"Got it," Reamus replied and turned to leave the room.

"I just hope the consequences won't be as harsh as I fear they may be. We need those two, now more than ever." McGonagall was concerned at that comment. She had never met this Jerona family, but the stories were enough to make her not look forward to the task. For some reason their tactics reminded her of some Death Eaters she has been unfortunate to know. They stopped at nothing to get what they wanted and would do just about anything to complete a task. But there was one difference, Minerva had to remind herself: they never did anything without a good reason that wouldn't reveal itself until absolutely necessary. She just hoped that whatever they had planned this time wouldn't cost the wizarding world the war with Voldemort.

* * *

Alia Jerona was getting tired. She had been engaged in battle for half an hour now and trying to keep from killing her opponents while making sure they didn't get back up to fight anytime soon was taking its toll on her endurance. She now understood why all-out-not-hold-anything-back was her fighting preference. Not to mention she had a few too many deep cuts to keep closed that were proving to make calling on her advanced abilities out of the question. From what she could tell, Aidrian wasn't faring any better. He wasn't used to extended battles like she was and had reached his time limit of fighting about ten minutes ago. To make herself feel better, she blamed her exhaustion on him.

'_Would you mind keeping your accusations to yourself,'_ Aidrian's mental voice echoed into her mind and she accepted the comfort graciously. As it always was, being mentally connected to him made everything magic seem easier. That being said, she was easily able to stun her current opponent. _'We need to get out of this fight, Alia. Even you know why the Death Eaters are here.'_

'_Yes, I know,'_ Alia replied softly. She didn't want to admit that people were dying because of her and Aidrian, but that was the truth of matters and it couldn't be changed.

'_The battle follows us. If we can make it to Phoenix and contact Dumbledore, we may be able to avoid any more losses on our side for now.'_

'_Do you really think these guys will move over if I ask them nicely?'_ Alia asked as she was forced into battle with yet another wizard. This was getting old really quickly and just killing them all was moving its way up on her list of how to handle the situation.

'_Then let me get over to you and we'll go from there,' _Aidrian said and Alia looked to where she knew he was and saw him quickly clearing his own path to her.

'_Please tell me you don't have an idea,' _she said hesitantly. _'Sorry to say, but they usually don't work out right.'_

'_Just shut up and wait a minute. I actually looked this one up in a reference book when I found out Rokay was being targeted.'_

'_That isn't as comforting as you obviously think it should be.'_ Alia went silent as she blocked another wave of spells sent in her general direction and sent a few of her own in retaliation. She felt Aidrian approach her and made sure to avoid launching any assault in the direction he was coming from.

He touched her shoulder gently to let her know he was behind her and she opened her mind further to him.

'_Open your Territory and raise a shield. I'll keep them off of us until you have it up.'_

'_Now I know you're crazy. If I open my Territory now I will be overloaded with all this evil around me. I can feel it without my Territory up reaching for me, trying to influence me. I know you can as well.'_ Aidrian didn't reply at first, opting to make sure Alia wasn't hurt while her attention was divided.

Even as he fought, he noticed others on their side of the battle were making their way to where the two were situated and were building a second level of defense for them. They knew that Alia and Aidrian together meant mondo magic was about to come. Fortunately they were also aware of the time required to put said magic together.

"Alia would you just shut up and do what I say. I _do_ know what I'm talking about sometimes," Aidrian snapped, the force of his words convincing the girl to shut up and do what she was told. After all, he was getting better at actually getting text reference before having her experiment

"Alright, watch my back and make sure you're in contact with me when I open my Territory," Alia replied as she kneeled down and pulled a piece of chalk from one of the small containers on her belt. She began drawing on the ground, the symbol of her Shield Rune flowing easily from her fingers with practiced perfection. It was finished quickly enough and she opened one of the many tiny leather pouches adorning her belt and barely touched the powder within it and then touched her finger to the center of the rune and pushed her magic into it. The rune flared to life instantly, the lines glowing, waiting for directions. "Aidrian, come within range," she called, the man instantly moving to her side.

Once he was situated, Alia rose to her feet, dragging a line of light from the rune along with her fisted hand, and raised the limb as high above her head as she could reach. Once her body was straight, Aidrian placed his hand on her shoulder and Alia opened her hand with the palm pointed toward the ceiling. The result was the line of magic connected to her hand exploded and fell around the two like a fountain, solidifying once it touched the ground and building up around the two quickly to form a shield between the two and the battle around them.

'_Extend your Territory to the rim of the barrier. You won't be influenced. You are strong enough to overpower the evil in this place,'_ Aidrian instructed, helping her keep her focus with the strength of his mind bonded to her tired one. The barrier took a lot of effort to maintain over another person, even if it was Aidrian.

Alia concentrated on the part of her magic that focused on her Territory. When it wasn't in use, it only covered her body like a skin of magic permanently surrounding her. When it was opened, everything around her became potentially a part of her and was hers to call upon. Unfortunately that also included the darkness within a person's heart and mind. It was dangerous to open her Territory in battle because of the influence evil held over her, even if it did give her full access to her magic. When using her runes with her Territory open, the activation powders she used were not required and it took little power to maintain any spell.

The power that was her Territory flicked instantly when she accessed its power. Years of meditation and control were all that kept it from opening as far as it could the instant it was tapped. Alia spread the power to the edge of the barrier surrounding her, which the area of wild magic didn't appreciate. It practically begged to be release further.

It was like she had jumped in a pool of evil once her Territory was slightly spread and she could feel its taunting influence reach for her. She had felt this kind of power only once before and it had almost killed her. The only thing that had saved her back then was the owner of the hand touching her shoulder, and it looked like he would be the reason for her retained sanity this time as well.

'_Meld the power of your Territory to the magic of your Shield Rune. I know you can do it.'_

'_I have to retract the barrier back to the rune first. I can't fuse them if the rune is already activated since the magic is different.'_

'_No, don't retract anything. There is some part of the magic of the rune and your Territory is the same or they wouldn't work at the same time. Would you please just trust me on this and do it?'_

Alia wanted to argue, but she could feel her control wavering because of her exhaustion. Instead she closed her eyes and looked at the structure of her two activated powers and tried to find what was alike about them. She could see the patterns that they created around her. At first glance, they looked completely opposite, the silver glow of her barrier contrasting with the black veil of her Territory. She then decided to look at what they appeared as when they formed around her. Her Territory moved around her when not activate, but remained solid when it was open, like an invisible dome around her. Her barrier was free until she completed her orders for how it should form. It moved until set…wait a second.

'_They are like water when they aren't commanded,'_ Alia commented, mainly to herself at the realization. The only response Aidrian gave was a feeling of overwhelming pride. _'See, I can think in the middle of battle just as well as you.'_

'_Too bad you aren't really in the middle of a battle or I would be shocked to death,' _he chided back. _'Now will you hurry up and fuse them together?'_

Alia didn't respond because her focus was already on moving her rune and Territory at the same time to match each other perfectly. Deciding which way would be easiest, Alia sent more magic into the rune at her feet, telling it that her command was going to change. The Shield Rune reacted instantly and began flowing around the two within like a veil blowing in a gentle breeze, but not letting one centimeter of weakness in case of a sudden assault. Alia took a mental note to congratulate the other fighters on how well they kept the Death Eaters off of them while they worked. The veil of magic moved to imitate the Territory behind it and soon there was no difference between the two.

'_Good, now solidify them,'_ Aidrian instructed. Alia stopped feeding new magic into her rune, ending her active command over it and the barrier of light froze once again. _'Now, keeping them solid, expand your Territory and make us a path out of here.'_

Alia turned to the man behind her with an incredulous look. _'Its official: Aidrian Jerona has lost his marbles. What do you think will happen to me if I expand my Territory anymore than it already is?'_

'_Nothing because with the barrier connected to it, everything in its path will be knocked away. With your barrier stuck on the command to be formed to your Territory, it has no choice but to expand. Even though your Territory is just a space of magic without physical presence, your barrier will give it that aspect it usually doesn't have.'_

'_Why didn't you just have me raise my barrier and move?'_

'_Have you suddenly forgotten how to use your own magic? Your barrier only extends as far as your body can reach without moving. But, because of this, once you open your Territory, that's the form the barrier will be stuck to and your Territory actually won't move with you until you stop feeding magic to the rune.'_

"Too bad that isn't permanent," Alia felt strongly enough about that fact to say it out loud.

"Well, tough luck. Now open your Territory in a direct line to one of the doors out of here and hold it. The others will understand."

"I'm not going to send them flying without warning, no matter how much magic that will take to send them all a message."

Aidrian didn't have a chance to dissuade her because she was already linking her mind to every one of the fighters around them. Connecting to the minds of others was usually not a difficult task because of her diligent training in the ability. But with her concentrating on maintaining a constant stream of magic to her rune and keeping her Territory from exploring, her mind was too divided to make it a quick feat. Not to mention with so many people in the room that she had to keep from connecting to, she had to look at the signals each person put out to find the right ones. But with her stubbornness to guide her, she began sending a mental image of her barrier coming at the right people, and adding an image of it knocking them unconscious just in case they didn't get the hint of it being solid. She looked through the veil of magic around her as best as she could and saw the receivers of the message gradually moving their fights to make a semi-empty path to a door.

When Alia was sure that injuries to her side of the battle would be kept to a minimum, she focused on her Territory, which once again flared in response, wanting to be more free than a mere foot around her. She imagined a path from her to the door, and without a second to spare, the concentrated area of magic that was her Territory shot out like a bullet, taking the shield with it. The Death Eaters and the few warriors who hadn't moved far enough away to avoid the hit were flung aside, landing on the ground with heavy thumps.

Aidrian didn't give Alia a chance to recover as he grabbed her arm and dragged her down the path of her Territory. She was grateful for the assistance because of an unexpected drain of magic from the rune drawing more power to sustain its solidity as it expanded and Alia had been left having to focus more than normal to keep both maintained properly.

They made it to and through the door quickly and Alia cut off power to her rune as soon as the door was closed and locked behind them. She felt her Territory fold around her again and she quickly took her mind off of it to keep it from taking advantage of her tired mind and reigning free. She made, yet another, mental note to go to a few secluded areas to let her Territory have some free time once they were out of danger. The area of magic may be what saved her life most of the time, but the fact that it sort of had a mind of its own was a constant nag at the back of her mind that made her feel guilty when she didn't let it have some free time more often.

She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that the man leading her had stopped and she rammed into his back, glad it wasn't exactly a rare occurrence and he had been able to brace himself enough not to topple over. He was even aware enough to grab her arms to keep her from ending up on the ground herself. Once she wasn't in danger of embarrassing herself, she looked ahead of them to see a cloaked and hooded figure standing in their path.

Once aware of the other's presence, Alia was assaulted by a wave of pure madness, anger, and an overwhelming sense of evil. It was everything dark that the girl was taught to avoid, but the pull to join the madness was intoxicating and she was too tempted to submit.

'_It has to be Voldemort. Nobody else could be this intoxicating to me,' _Alia warned the man in front of her. Aidrian reacted instantly by opening his mind further to steel her resolve. It didn't take long for her mind to recover and soon she was staring the Dark Lord down right along with Aidrian, barely noticing the attack on her sanity continue.

"So you are as skilled as the rumors say," the wizard sneered. "Everybody else who has faced me so far has already begged to join me."

"Then they are fools for keeping their Territory open to your influence," Alia shot back evenly.

"But you are so powerful; I bet you don't need your Territory open to feel my power."

Alia let a grin spread across her face slowly. "Well, I can feel your insanity. Actually, that's pretty much all I can feel from you. As far as I can see, you're simply a loon." That didn't bode well with the man and Alia felt an intense shot of anger directed at her, which she could deal with. It actually made it easier to ignore the insanity with a feeling she already had towards the dark wizard and she was grateful for the additional distraction. She had to be careful though. If she got too mad, her Territory would strike out at the subject of her hatred.

The attack came before either one of them had a chance to defend themselves. Voldemort had called out a stunning spell and had hit Aidrian with it so quickly and Alia barely had enough time to avoid a second spell thrown at her. She rolled away from the still body and quickly moved to her knees, ready to move at the slightest sign of another attack. Voldemort's wand remained fixed on her, but he made no move to follow-up with another assault.

"You know what I'm here for, don't you?" the wizard asked coldly.

"Of course I do. I'm not a novice," Alia shot back. "Why do you think I was trying to leave?"

"You thought I would let these people live, even if you left? You are such a foolish child. All of your kind is a threat to me and I will see that you are all destroyed."

"You wizards tried to do that already and we came back. When will you learn that we will always be here no matter what you do?" Alia was delaying now. She touched her hand to the ground and found she was on loose dirt. This was the opportunity she needed. She would have to draw with her right hand, which would take a little longer because she was left handed and it was harder for her to get the runes correct, but as long as she kept a handle on her remarks, the wizard should have no reason to attack her again yet.

"I'll be sure to remedy that. The fools of the Ministry didn't know about those in hiding, but I have my connections and we will find every last one of you."

"Not even the Sorcery Council knows where every sorcerer is. How do you expect to, even with connections?"

"All I have to do is look at the bloodline and destroy all the descendents. It will be a slow process, but killing every last one of your kind will be well worth it."

"You shouldn't tell your enemy your plan because you never know just when they'll make a comeback and beat you at your own game." The rune was complete. Now all she needed was a reason to activate it. She felt her Territory reach for the rune, drawn to its magic. Knowing she wouldn't get a chance to access the activation powder she needed, she allowed the Territory to touch it, but kept it from feeding power into the rune. Because she was so close to the rune there was such a little change in her Territory that she felt no change in her senses, which were surprisingly not under attack by Voldemort.

"You will join me or you will die. I can't let it be any other way."

Alia caught the wizard tighten his grip on his wand and fed power into her rune before he had a chance to cast. "Dispel!" Alia called her command and chains of light shot from the rune and flew to Voldemort, knocking the wand from his hand. "Restrain," she changed the command quickly and the chains moved to tangle around Voldemort in an almost haphazard manner. When the man was securely bound, Alia touched the corner of the rune to stop it from feeding more chain links. It stopped instantly, but continued glowing, showing it's readiness to respond to another command.

"Release me now, you stupid brat!" Voldemort bellowed as he struggled against the magical bonds.

"Well that's no way to ask someone for a favor. You're finished Voldemort. I hope you enjoyed your freedom while it lasted." Alia looked over to Aidrian and spread her Territory to him. Once it touched him, the magic of her Territory acted instantly to remove the effects of the spell that had been cast on the man. Aidrian moved instantly, sitting up and taking in his surroundings. His eyes landed on the struggling wizard and then they moved to Alia.

"Finish the job, Magic Hunter," he said. Alia closed her eyes and nodded. She walked over to Voldemort and kneeled down, shifting the position of the chains so they were more secure around the wizard. Once the chains were situated, she formed ends and attached them firmly in the ground. Now that she was sure he wasn't going anywhere, she withdrew a piece of chalk from one of her pouches attached to her belt and drew another rune. She pressed her hand flat against the floor in the center, not needing her Territory or activation powder for this particular rune, it being of her own creation and therefore her power was linked to it in a way no other rune was.

The rune reacted by sending an explosion of light through the ground, spreading out all around Alia. She began raising her hand and standing up. As she rose, the light around her was drawn from the center of the rune, forming the hilt and blade of a sword. Once she stood straight, she raised her hand a little higher so it was parallel to her shoulder blade. She then moved her hand to grasp the hilt and the sword solidified, making an actual weapon instead of a collection of magic in the form of one. She raised the tip of the blade to Voldemort's chest, shifting her weight to balance out the sword.

"You know what I do, Voldemort. You know I'm not going to destroy you. I'm going to give you the ultimate punishment and, for once, I am going to enjoy watching you endure it. I've heard what I do is painful, and sometimes it bugs me to know how much. Not this time, though. This time, I hope my victim feels pain unlike they have ever felt before."

"Do your worst, brat. Remember, I've already died," the wizard replied.

Something was different. It didn't feel as evil as it had before. Alia blinked as she realized the difference. It was like Voldemort had disappeared without moving.

"You're not Voldemort," she said. She moved to remove the mask and was faced with a man in his late 30's at least, with long blonde hair and intense grey eyes. She recognized him instantly as Lucius Malfoy. She had met him about ten years ago while at the Ministry of Magic on assignment. She had been seven then and was already well on her way to becoming the Magic Hunter she was now. At the time she had sensed something akin to evil insanity behind his devious manner, but she hadn't looked into it, having been aware that he was a suspected Death Eater. Now the roles of his manner were reversed and she now understood why she hadn't recognized him at first: the devious wizard had hit something crazy and was being controlled by it.

"That's not completely accurate," Malfoy sneered. "The Dark Lord has imbedded part of himself into me, so I can serve him by allowing him to control me. You will never defeat him now. He is everywhere and he will destroy you. You will not be allowed to make contact with The-Boy-Who-Lived."

'_What does that Potter kid have to do with this?' _Aidrian asked.

'_How did Voldemort know that I promised Dumbledore that I would watch over Potter?' _Alia thought to herself, not noticing that the channel between her and Aidrian was now open.

'_What was that?' _Aidrian snapped. _'You decided something without me?'_

'_We owe Dumbledore for the leads he's given us. Protecting a kid isn't going to be a problem.'_

'_Destroy Malfoy now, argue about this later.'_

'_You started it.'_

"I really don't care if you aren't really Voldemort. You gave into that madman and that makes you just like him. Not only that, but you attacked Aidrian and that is unforgivable in my eyes because that endangers too many people. You will be dealt the appropriate punishment." Her eyes slid closed for a second and she altered the flow of her tone to work with the magic of another connection within her mind. "I declare an official report to the Sorcery Council and the Ministry of Magic that on July 20 the Magic Hunter Alia Jerona binds Lucius Malfoy from wizardry. The crime is attempted murder and use of forbidden dark magic."

She then fed magic into the blade grasped in her left hand and plunged it into the wizards body. There was an explosion of light from the sword as it penetrated him, and Lucius let out a pain filled scream that filled the halls of Rokay. The light began to dim after a few seconds and Alia could feel the weight of her blade increase as the wizard began losing consciousness.

Suddenly, there was another change in the man and Alia saw it this time. Lucius' face changed slightly and the girl was assaulted by a wave of pure madness. She felt like she was going to faint as the grip on her blade slackened slowly. Aidrian felt her desperation to stay connected to reality and he ran over to her, grasping her left hand over the hilt of her sword and he moved his body behind her to make sure she remained on her feet. Alia felt her senses clear and even though the attack continued, it was now manageable.

"You are not meant to defeat me," Alia knew this was Voldemort channeling himself through his servant, which meant he was getting desperate to hang onto the wizard on the other end of her blade. "There is only one person who can destroy me and he will fail. I will never be beaten and you will fall to my wand in death or submission."

"I know all about your Prophecy, but you don't know mine," Alia replied. "That gives me the advantage I need to at least help bring you down."

Lucius' face returned to normal and he fell to the ground, the blade sliding out of his stomach. There was no blood, and none would come. The blade Alia used had done its job.

Lucius Malfoy was now a Muggle.

Aidrian released the girl from his grip and she banished the power of the Binding Rune and placed the tip of the sword in the center of the rune it was pulled from and released the hilt. The blade lowered itself back into the rune, the mark disappearing once the sword was completely withdrawn. Aidrian moved to where the Binding Rune was and swiped his foot over it, removing it from existence.

"This is getting complicated," Alia said quietly. Aidrian turned to face her and nodded slowly.

"Now, what was that about the wizard's Golden Boy?" Aidrian asked. Alia didn't get a chance to answer as they were once again assaulted by Death Eaters who had finally managed to move beyond the main entrance of Rokay. Once the battle began, Alia knew that neither one of them would survive without help, but kept the realization from Aidrian. There was no point to destroying his unending supply of hope he tended to carry everywhere.

* * *

Harry Potter was frustrated, and that didn't happen to often these days. He had spent the last month of the summer vacation at the Burrow with the Weasley's and was looking forward to the start of school again. Sure, there was plenty to distract him from the compilation of thoughts his brain insisted on keeping running at all times, but he was just too on edge.

He knew what some of the problems were. He was totally avoiding everything to do with Sirius' death. Hermione and Ron had gotten together last month just after Harry had arrived. And even though they made a big deal about insisting that their relationship was completely unofficial he was happy for them. Voldemort was remaining quiet in pretty much every way. The Death Eaters attacked someone every once in a while to make sure people remembered that they were there, but nothing caught Harry's attention.

Not to mention, ever since last week, he was feeling these spikes of something he couldn't identify. He would talk to Dumbledore about it, but the Headmaster had been gone for the last ten days. Reamus, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, and Mr. Weasley had also been unusually active, which got on Harry's nerves because he didn't know why.

"What on earth are you still doing inside, Mate?" Ron's voice caught Harry's attention and he looked to the door to see Ron and Hermione looking at him.

"Enjoying the stuffy air," Harry replied with a grin, getting two laughs in reply.

"Well, you're going to enjoy some more. Dumbledore just called us for a meeting with him, Snape, McGonagall, and Reamus."

Harry went serious instantly at the announcement. "When did they get back?"

"About five minutes ago," Hermione answered. "We want to know what this is about just as much as you so let's get going."

Harry rose and made his way to the door and followed his two friends down to the living room, which was full of people. Dumbledore, Snape, and a girl that Harry didn't recognize were situated around the room. The girl had shoulder-length auburn hair and her eyes were the color of ice. She was relatively short, probably only about 5'5", but the way she held her posture radiated authority and calm, as well as a sense of danger.

It was then that Harry realized who was sitting next to her, in chains. The long blond hair surrounded Lucius Malfoy's face messily and his eyes were stuck on the ground. On the other side of the room, sitting next to Snape, was Draco Malfoy. He was glancing around the room cautiously, but his demeanor was still that of the proud Slytherin Harry had known for years.

"Hello there, Harry," Dumbledore chided. "Please have a seat. There is much we have to discuss. I'm sorry I had to leave like I did but there was urgent business in America I had to attend to."

"What are the Malfoy's doing here, Headmaster?" Ron asked, barely keeping a handle on his temper. He really didn't like having those two in his house.

"I'm delivering Lucius to prison, and Dumbledore insisted I take a detour," the girl answered. She looked up and Harry noticed that her face had faint bruises coloring her face and neck. He looked to her arms, which were only covered to the elbow and saw that there were day-old cuts marring the skin.

"Who are you?" Ron asked, not letting the defensive tone leave his voice.

"My name is Alia Jerona. I'm…"

"You're an American," Hermione cut in, noticing the lack of accent first.

"Well, that too. Before I continue, the first one to call me a 'Bloody Yank' finds out firsthand how I caught this jerk," she snapped, pointing down to the elder Malfoy with a scowl.

Harry could have sworn he saw Lucius flinch when she gestured to him.

"Alia is Hogwarts' new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore provided, knowing that it was best for him to give the information.

"But she looks younger than us," Harry said, realizing after the words were out that they could be taken offensively. "Please don't take that too bad, Miss Jerona." Alia just looked at Harry for a few seconds with wide eyes and then she broke out laughing. Everybody in the room, minus Lucius, looked at the laughing girl trying to figure out what was so funny to her. "Okay, what'd I say?" Harry asked cautiously.

"I have been called a lot of things, but 'Miss Jerona' has never been on the list." With that said, she resumed her laughter. Harry was at a loss for words. This girl acted less mature than him and Ron ever was even in their most careless moments. With that thought in mind, he couldn't help but notice how contagious the girl's amusement was and he felt his lips twitch into a small smile.

"What is wrong with you?" Draco asked, catching Harry's attention. There was no force behind his words. They actually sounded like he was amused himself and was merely going along with the feel of the conversation. Ron and Hermione looked at their fellow student, meaning they had caught it as well. Draco was different and they all knew it just by hearing him speak.

Alia turned a grin to the Slytherin. "You're just jealous because the voices talk to me," she said without slightly implying that she was joking. Harry couldn't have even pulled off that straight of a face in the situation and he was good at that sort of thing. Draco looked at the girl for a few seconds before the corners of his mouth quirked into the ghost of a smile.

"Thanks, Miss Jerona, I needed to know someone else besides me had such a warped sense of humor," Draco said, amusement barely able to discern in his voice.

"You should hear some of the things Harry spouts," Ron chided, obviously forgetting who he was talking to. He remembered soon enough though, and took on an expression that Harry could describe as pouting.

"We should get business out of the way, Alia," Dumbledore said. The girl's attitude changed so quickly, Harry didn't even notice as he settled himself into one of the couches with Hermione and Ron. He had sat down and when he looked at her again, she was serious and the danger that surrounded her had returned.

"So, what possessed Dumbledore to allow Shorty to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor?" Snape asked, smirking when the girl glared sharply at him. Harry had to admit, she could probably hold her own against the Potions master if given the chance.

"Why shouldn't I? She's been fighting it for the last twelve years of her life," Dumbledore replied lightly.

"Hold on, how old is she?" Harry asked quickly.

"She is seventeen," Alia answered.

"That can't be right," Draco said. "That means she would have had to be attending Hogwarts when she was five."

"She didn't attend Hogwarts," Alia once again cut in before Dumbledore could even open his mouth to reply. Harry looked over to the Headmaster and realized he probably wasn't even going to try and answer for her if the amused glint in his eyes was anything to go by. "She went to a school in America called the Rokay School of Sorcery." The way she kept referring to herself in second person left all a second behind, but when they figured out what she meant, Ron, Hermione, and Draco reacted in a confusing manner to Harry.

"What?" the three students asked in unison. Harry was lost as it was and their reaction didn't exactly help explain anything.

"But there are no more sorcerers," Ron followed up the initial outburst first. "They were all killed off years ago."

"Well, that's what you were supposed to think," Alia replied with a grin.

"What were who supposed to think?" Draco asked. "Who were supposed to be deceived?"

"What would you say if I told you 'from every wizard and witch alive or dead'? Nobody was supposed to know that we were still out there. The Ministry of Magic made a law that allowed Aurors to kill us on sight. Do you really think we would dance in the street with signs that said they only knew about less than half of the sorcerers in existence?"

"I'm sorry to hold everybody back, but I have no clue what the big deal is here," Harry interrupted. Alia looked over to him and gave him an apologetic smile.

"That's right, you were raised by Muggles. Sorcery is another way for humans to manipulate magic. The problem is sorcery is purely genetic. Every child that is born from a sorcerer or sorceress will have power, even if it is just a low level, it will be there and they will have to be trained for when they awaken."

"And what does it mean to 'awaken'?" It was Hermione who answered, and Alia let her. A witch could probably explain it better. Anyway, she had heard what a brainiac Hermione Granger was. The only way she would get it wrong was if the textbooks were wrong, or misinformed. The latter was most likely considering the tight lips sorcerers tended to keep. Well, Alia had already decided to set things straight between the two worlds of magic sorcery and wizardry were split into.

"A sorcerer's Awakening is when they can access their power. It usually has something set it off, usually puberty or the person being in danger. They have to be trained to keep at least some control over the rush of power they have so they would spend a whole year training through meditation. It's weird, but I never read of a sorcerer or sorceress awakening before the age of thirteen, and I have read a lot on them. Sorcery has always fascinated me because of how it works."

"Don't you mean 'how the authors think it works'?" Alia interrupted. "The Sorcery Council was serious about disclosing information to wizards back then and not even we knew how to fully control our powers."

"How long ago are we referring to?" Ron asked.

"The Ministry of Magic declared us enemies over four centuries ago. I probably don't need to tell you that we have advanced in our years of hiding."

"If you're hiding, why are you here?" Harry asked. He was finally catching on to the whole sorcery deal. Something was telling him that the Ministry had good reason to declare them enemies. All Ministers couldn't be like Cornelius Fudge or wizards would have never survived.

"About a century ago, the Ministry thought we were all gone, when in fact we had attained such a high population, we couldn't hide anymore and too many of us weren't receiving the proper training to avoid problems because there was no way to keep track of who needed training. Back then, we didn't know we could prepare and waited until we were awakened before training. The Council decided to try and join forces with wizards and call peace. The Ministry refused, but agreed to call a truce. Since then, sorcery has been limited to America and everywhere else is wizard's territory. Within two years of the truce, Rokay was built and we discovered that we could prepare our minds to the strain of controlling our magic. Nobody has broken our truce and even though we aren't supposed to get involved with wizards, we still do and vice versa."

"You are unofficial allies then?" Snape asked.

"'The enemy of your enemy' thing comes to mind in our case."

"At least you aren't in that category with the Death Eaters," Ron said, only half serious.

"The Dark Lord will kill you, Jerona," Lucius' voice cut into the conversation. It was low and husky, like he hadn't spoken in a long time.

"I was wondering when you would pipe up, Malfoy," Alia chided in response. "You want to tell them what happened to Rokay three days ago or should I do the honors?"

"Why didn't you kill me? It would be better if you did. If you don't strike me down, I will hunt you for as long as you live."

"Do what you want."

Once the sentence was spoken, Alia closed her eyes and the shackles on Lucius' wrists fell to the ground. The man sat there looking at his hands as if he couldn't believe that he was free. He looked up to the girl as she reached into her pocket with her left hand and withdrew a piece of chalk. Lucius reacted instantly, lunging toward her with hands reaching for her neck. Harry, Ron, Draco, and Snape all reacted instinctively and reached for their wands. But before their wands were pointed in the right direction, Alia had drawn some symbol that Harry had never seen before and had her hand placed over the center of it, the lines glowing dimly. Lucius had frozen where he was, only about a foot away from her.

"It will kill you this time," she said in such a low voice, Harry didn't know how to react. This girl gave a new definition to the word "dangerous" without breaking a sweat.

"It didn't kill me the last time you stabbed me. How do I know that thing's not just for show?" The dim light from the symbol exploded to make a circle of light on the wall, bringing Harry's senses to full alert. Alia quickly drew her hand away from the wall, the light shooting out the center to follow her hand. She then brought her hand down to grasp at one end of the stream of light and it formed a sword with the symbol she had drawn it from carved into both sides of the blade just below the hilt.

"Do you really want me to show you what this sword is capable of?" she growled. Harry looked to Lucius and took in the expression. To put it politely, the man was terrified.

Harry looked back to Alia and was surprised to see that he could barely make her out. There was what looked like a veil of darkness hugging her form. Something told Harry that this thing was part of her, but at the same time it was a living thing separate from her. This realization confused him because he didn't know how he even figured that; he just knew. There was a slight flash in front of him and he closed his eyes as a flash of silver close to him nearly blinded him. He let out a pained yell and fell back onto the couch.

"Harry!" he heard Ron call him, but he couldn't open his eyes. The silver light was still there and it blinded him whenever he opened his eyes even slightly.

"You behave," he recognized Alia say, he guessed to Lucius. "Snappy, come keep an eye on him."

"What did you just call me?" Harry registered Snape's voice, but his mind wasn't actually grasping anything. It was like he was losing himself to reality and he couldn't find his way back.

The next thing he knew, someone was touching his forehead, next to his scar and his mind was clearing. He opened his eyes cautiously to see grey eyes right in front of him. His mind was still muddled so he could only be confused as to who had grey eyes. It took a few more seconds for Harry to actually realize what was going on around him and when he did, he realized that Draco was holding his arms securely to his sides and Ron was holding his legs down. The hand touching his forehead belonged to Alia and her eyes were closed in concentration.

"Albus Dumbledore," Alia said quietly, which Harry was grateful for. Even with her voice low, he could feel a stab of a headache making its way into his brain. "Would you kindly tell me why Harry Potter has a Territory?"

"What is a Territory?" Dumbledore asked. It was the first time Harry had heard the Headmaster actually ask a question and sound confused and concerned. This day was full of surprises.

"All sorcerers have what we call a Territory. It's an area of concentrated magic that we draw our power from and it connects us to everything around us. That's what an awakening really is: it's our Territory coming to life. It's what separates us from you wizards. If Harry has a Territory, then that can only mean he's a sorcerer."

Harry was barely hearing this as he felt himself slipping back into unsorted thoughts. It was like he could feel another mind within his own. Not even knowing what he was doing, he investigated.

He was instantly surrounded in the sense of another person. This person was uncomfortable with the situation. He didn't want to be there. He didn't know how to handle anything right now. He had been betrayed and wanted to bear it on his own because that was all he had ever really known. He hadn't liked Harry, but something had changed his perspective and he seemed to be trying to bury any harsh feelings toward the Gryffindor, but six years of conflict were hard to drop.

"Harry, stop it!" Alia's voice caught him by surprise and he was once again aware of his surroundings. "Draco, you might want to let him go. I won't let him hurt himself anymore." She nodded to Ron as well and the two boys moved away. "Don't explore anymore, Harry. If you go too deep without a Stabilizer, you won't come back. Dumbledore, do you have any isolation rooms in Hogwarts?"

"Of course," Dumbledore answered quickly.

"Then I suggest you get one up and running so it's ready when we get there." Alia was silent for a few seconds, thinking something over. "Ron and Draco should have not been able to touch you as easily as they did. Maybe you already have your Stabilizers."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked slowly.

"We'll talk tomorrow since you are about thirteen seconds from passing out. I'll keep your Territory restrained for now. Tomorrow we'll work everything out and you'll get some answers. Hopefully I will too. Snappy, I leave Lucius in your hands. Remember, he's a Muggle now so don't put him in Azkaban. Find a nice Muggle prison to send him to. It's what he deserves after what he's put other people through."

Harry didn't hear anything else as he felt himself slipping away.

* * *

**A/N**: There will most likely be actual changes to next chapter in congruence with reviews from the last posting. Again, forgive me for seeming to fall of the face of the planet but the first year of college is making me more lazy than normal.

**Kimra Dattei**


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